Philly High School Football Team Featured in Documentary

6ABC reports: “Some Martin Luther King High School football players are about to hit the big time. Not in the NFL, at least not yet, but on ESPN. The MLK Cougars are the focus of a documentary, We Could Be King, that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this week. Cameras followed the players throughout their season as budget cuts forced King to merge with rival Germantown High.”

Underfunded sports programs in schools have always been an issue. To help launch its “Sports Matter” initiative, Dick’s Sporting Goods has teamed up with Tribeca Digital Studios to make We Could Be King, a documentary about two rival Philadelphia high schools—Martin Luther King High School and Germantown High—that must combine after drastic budget cuts.

Directed by Judd Ehrlich (Magic Camp, Run For Your Life), the film explores the long-standing rivalry between the schools’ football teams and focuses on their transformation as they are forced by changing circumstances to work together, both on and off the field. Along with his three-person crew, Ehrlich spent four months in Germantown following the student athletes. Ehrlich toldVariety: “We found the other elements in their lives were much deeper and richer than any football rivalry. There are lots of different issues these kids are dealing with.”